Roller skate



11g- 8, 1933- H. F. wl-llTcoMB, JR

ROLLER SKATE Filed Maron 14, 1932' Patented Aug. 8, 1933 LWLMS ROLLER SKATE Henry F. Whitcomb, Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Richardsonn Ball Bearing Skate Company, Chicago, Ill., a Corporation of Illinois Application March 14, 1932. Serial No. 598,769 3 ('Jlairns.I (Cl. 208-179) This invention relates to roller skates.

The principal object of the invention is to provide improvements in a roller skate which in addition to providing additional reinforcements for the skate body makes the skate particularly suitable for use in playing roller skate hockey. The improvement constituting this invention includes broadly, the provision of means adapted to be secured to the skate body in a location between the front and back trucks of the skate, whereby a player at hockey may use his skate more eiectively to intercept the puck and thereby speed up the game.

A more speciiic object of the invention is to provide the skate body with means suitable for the above purpose, which when appliedA to the skate will not interfere with the yielding movements of the skate body relative to the trucks and which while adding additional rigidity to 2i) the skate body, will not add appreciable weight to the skate as a whole.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. l is a side view of a roller skate provided with puck intercepting means made in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the bracing element employed in the skate construction shown in Fig. 1, and illustrating the manner of 30 attaching the puck intercepting element to one of said braces.

The present invention is illustrated in connection with a roller skate, the general construction of which is well known. It will be obvious, however, that the improvements which form the subject matter oi the present invention are not limited in their use to the particular skate construction shown. inasmuch as the general construction of the skate shown is well known, it will be suflicient, in the present application, to describe such construction briefly. The skate comprises a foot plate which is supported on. iront and back roller trucks l1 and 12, respectively. The foot plate is shown herein as permanently attached to a roller skate shoe 13. This manner oi attachment to the shoe is not material insofar as the present invention is concerned. If desired, the said foot plate may be provided with the well known form of clamps 50 for removably attaching the skate to any ordinary shoe.

The front truck of the skate consists of a pair of rollers 14 mounted on an axle 15, and a carrier designated generally by the reference 55 character 16 for connecting the truck to the toe portion of the foot plate. The said truck carrier includes a portion for gripping the axle 15, and a forwardly and upwardly extending arm 17, the upper end of which nts movably in a retaining socket 13'. The said socket 18 00 is formed at one end of a hanger 19, which is suitably secured to the lower face of the foot plate. The other end of the carrier 16 is formed to provide a seat 20 for a rubber cushion 2l. An adjusting screw 22 extends through the seat 65 and cushion and is secured at its upper end in a depending tubular member 23 formed on the other end of said hanger i9. The detail of construction of the rear truck of the skate is the same as that described for the front truck, 7@ except that the parts have a reverse position, that is to say, the arm 17a extends upwardly and rearwardly instead of upwardly and rorwardly as previously described. The said parts of the rear truck are therefore indicated on the drawing by the same reference numerals accompanied by the exponent a. The manner above described in which the truck is attached to the foot plate of the skate provides a yieldable connection between the foot plate and the truck, whereby a lateral tilting movement of the toot plate rotates the truck about the adjusting screw 22--22a.

The skate body is strengthened and rigidied by means of a longitudinal brace 2li, the 85 opposite ends of which are clamped to the lower ends of the tubular member 23-23o, by means of nuts 25-25a. A compression brace having upwardly diverging arms 26-26 is secured in the space between the brace 24 and the bottom 90 surface of the adjacent ends of the plates 19-l9a, so as to rigidity the instep portion or" the foot plate.

lin order to eiectively close the space between the trucks of the skate and to provide means on the skate which can be used in a game oi hockey to intercept the puck and carry it forward, l have provided a member 27 adapted to be secured to the skate body. The said member 2'7 preferably extends downwardly in the 100 spacebetween the trucks to a point relatively close to the floor or surface on which the skate is used. In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the said member 27 consists of a downo wardly bowed metal strip, the upper ends oi 10 which are secured to the brace member 24 and by reason of the latters attachment to the inner ends of the hangers 19-19a, serve to provide additional reinforcement for the skate body as a whole'. The metal strip from which the said no member 27 is formed, is preferably of suillcient width to resist twisting strains on the braces 24-26 and at the same time permits the lower portion 28 thereof to be positioned relatively close to the floor level without interfering with the transverse tilting of the skate body relative to the truck. The use of the wide relatively thin metal strip provides the additional rigidity and functions as a stop for a puck without 2. A roller skate for use in playing hockey comprising a body portion including a foot plate for attachment to a shoe and reinforcing braces for stiifening the foot plates, front and rear trucks yieldably attached to the skate body, and a downwardly bowed metal strip having its upper ends secured to a portion of the skate body and substantially closing the space between said trucks of the skate for the purpose described. A

3. A roller skate for use in playing hockey comprising a body portion, front and rear trucks spaced with relation to each other for supporting the body, and puck intercepting means secured to the body comprising a relatively wide but thin metal strip having its upper ends secured to said body and bowed downwardly into the space between said trucks to substantially close said space, whereby the player at hockey may use his skate to intercept the puck and advance it forward.

HENRY F. WHITCOMB, JR. 

